Jim Taricani, veteran investigative reporter for Channel 10, plans to retire as of April 1.

Taricani, 64, said Friday that his health is good despite undergoing a heart transplant in 1996. He said his contract with Channel 10 expires late this summer, and he felt this was the right time to leave.

“I’m so lucky to have lasted this long after the heart transplant,” Taricani said. “This is rare territory, and I want to be able to enjoy it.”

But he will not be quitting the work force entirely. Taricani said he planned to work part-time with former Channel 10 colleague Dyana Koelsch, who has her own communications firm.

Taricani has been at Channel 10 for better than three decades, aside from a two-year stint as director of communication for former Gov. Lincoln Almond beginning in 1994. He co-founded the station’s I-Team in 1979 to conduct investigations into organized crime and public corruption.

In 2004, Taricani was sentenced by a federal judge to six months of home confinement for refusing to disclose the confidential source of a leaked video that showed Frank Corrente, an aide to former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., accepting a bribe.

“That was something no journalist wants to face, but I felt I had to do it,” Taricani said. “I wouldn’t call it a highlight of my career, but you make a promise and you have to keep it. I wouldn’t change anything.”

He was released after four months for good behavior. After completing the sentence, Taricani became an advocate of a federal shield law for journalists. In 2007, Taricani testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in favor of a shield law bill.

“For more than 30 years, our viewers benefited from Jim’s stories holding powerful people accountable and helping to bring bad guys to justice,” said Channel 10 general manager Vic Vetters in a statement released Friday. “Jim fought for all of us who are on the outside looking in, and we owe him ‘thanks’ for a job well done.”

Taricani said he particularly enjoyed covering organized crime in Rhode Island, and credited the late Jack White of The Providence Journal and Channel 12, as his mentor. “He really took me under his wing, and introduced me to a host of good sources,” Taricani said.

He also said Cianci was a fascinating subject: “Buddy was an amazing guy to cover,” Taricani said. “The consummate politician, and an amazing character. He still is.”

Taricani’s journalism awards have included four Emmys, the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Yankee Quill Award.

The landscape has changed for local news in the past decade, with fewer viewers watching newscasts and a greater emphasis on social media to transmit information as swiftly as possible.

But Taricani said that was not a factor in his decision to retire.

“Things are certainly changing, in some ways for the better, in some ways not,” Taricani said. “I’m one of the old-school guys. But younger people are finding new ways to reach people, and that’s great.”

Taricani is married to Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.